House GOP Conference Chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said that Republicans cannot allow themselves to be defined as stubborn or out of touch on April 4 during a Ripon Society event.
“Tone matters,” Rodgers said. “We need to be aware of that as we are thinking through our communications and keep in mind the old adage that people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Showing up also matters. We’ve been promoting our members getting out and talking to nontraditional Republican voters and have been doing a whole host of things to help encourage that….”
In her role as chairwoman of the House GOP Conference, Rodgers crafts messages for House Republicans and works to ensure the messages reach a diverse electoral base.
Silicon Valley has become a source of inspiration, Rodgers said, and she tries to bring its spirit of innovation and creativity to her role as a Republican leader.
“Whether it’s new products or services or new public policy, it all starts with smart, hard-working, creative people who are thinking of ways that we can improve people’s lives,” Rodgers said. “That’s what we’re doing on Capitol Hill through public policy. We are promoting these legislative ideas that are going to improve people’s lives. And that’s the way we need to be communicating what we are about – that no matter what it is, we want a better life for you.”
Rodgers highlighted recent outreach efforts to engage younger people, Vietnamese Americans and women.
“Four out of five women governors are Republicans in this country,” Rodgers said. “Of the 10 lieutenant governors that are women, six of them are Republican. There are dynamic women leaders who are Republican, showing how it can be done and doing it well. We need to celebrate the leadership that they’re bringing.”
Rodgers said Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act should resonate with younger voters and women because they are disproportionately affected by the healthcare law.
Despite doing some “good work” when it comes to helping those who live in poverty, Rodgers said more needs to be done by Republicans.
“For too long, Republicans haven’t been talking about the most vulnerable and the poor,” Rodgers said. “In our own minds, we believe that our policies are going to help everyone, no matter who you are. But we haven’t connected that to the most vulnerable. We need to be talking about this more. We need to be consistently bringing this up in our messaging….”